Return of The Venture Bros.

I love this show. 

It's brilliantly written, amazingly hilarious and is a polished parody about a past generation of animated series.
I remember when I was young, I would watch shows like the original Scooby-Doo and shows like Johnny Quest and the various Superhero shows.
Classic Cartoon Network, you know. They were more or less what my parents grew up on; or at least watched ironically.
Then my best friend shared this beauty of a show with me.
It was violent, cruel and held a sarcastic mirror up to that television history.
Mostly I stayed for the violence. Ultimately I fell in love with the theme of the show; failure.
The show is about what happens to our heroes of yesteryear when life throws them a hardball and beats them down. We've all been there.
Part of the original core of comedy is tragedy; we laugh when others fall. Comedy is pretty dark and sadistic if you think about it. At least the good humor is; mom-and-pop humor from the cold war isn't exactly entertaining any more, if it ever was.

I almost came when I heard The Venture Bros. was renewed for a new season.

Oct 3, 2012

Today we decide to clean up our school workshop. We found 3 rusty bench drill maybe 12-15 years old. Colecting dust for 10 years already. I don't know. We decide to transform them into useable item before 2.00 pm. Guess what? 

 Amazing Job guys. 

  

Sept 28, 2012

School break coming soon, We start to plan the next new project for more  professional quality simulator. Here is the 30% finish drawing.

May 28 2012

If you have a problem to download (as reported) you can e-mail me. thank you.

May 13th 2012

Budu 2dof v1.5 a.k.a Kubing 2dof v1.5 uploaded. Budu is the codename for this project when it first release 2 years ago. You can use same hardware schematic v1.4. For educational use only. read Disclaimer first.  You can use Kubing 2dof v1.5.hex as inverted pendulum controller if you like (stand alone without PC). Good luck!!---kubing 

Windows take about 2.09 milisecond to send 8 bit binary signal to controller at 19200 baudrate. even with  pause = 1 ms on USO software. That is the Windows hardware restriction for uart communiaction. 

April 15th 2012

Fix a few bugs in Budu 2dof v1.4. So the next release of Budu 2dof v1.5 will be here soon. Download link not available until the next release of firmware. Thank you for support and email. We are planning to start a new project to make it usable with android phone and tablet very soon. 

Dec 20th 2011

Here is my version of joystik/panel controller  

figure 1-1

PCB circuit figure 1-1 was created using Eagle Layout Editor that can be downloaded for free from CADSoft. However, this project used two layer pcb automatically generated using this software. There is still room for improvement to make the best controller. by adding a few expander port in the near future. Expander port is a type of chips produced by the Microchip company that is able to add up to 16bit switch. we can connect this chip using SPI or I2C. imagine if it is connected to 8 chip expander we get 8 x 16 = 128 switches can be controlled separately. Separate means we do not need a diode or a matrix column row system. each switch will be controlled by a separate bit. whether the toggle switch or push button switch.

Rotary encoder, widely known as a shaft encoder, is an electro-mechanical device that converts the angular position or movement to digital. Incremental encoder output provides information about the motion of the shaft is usually processed elsewhere in the information such as speed, distance, RPM, and position. In flight the rotary encoder is used in the autopilot controller, radio communication and so on. For now BuduFsx1643 has four rotary encoder input only. And will be added to the 16 channel according to current needs. I use the rotary encoder EC16B2410408 ALPS brand available at RScomponent or Element14 store. In addition BuduFsx1643 has 16 digital inputs and 3 analog input. This chip has an analog input 12bit resolution or 4095 step. 

I have Logitech GT wheel which only has throttle and brake pedals. so with 3 analog inputs of this controller. I can take advantage of it to build a clutch pedal with 12bit resolution.

Here is Another great microchip project link

Building a USB Joystick Controller Using the PIC18F2455 By Willy

NOV 13th 2011

Figure 1-2a

Figure 1-2b

The Figure 1-2a shows a 2dof v1.4 project. It use USB connection directly without any converter chip such as FTDI or MAX232. It is the result of very extensive code modifications from the original project. This project uses PIC18f2550 and some other components. Very easy to build and requires only 30 minutes to solder. There are three variable resistor which is used to adjust Proportional, Intergral and Derivative. Included with two LEDs on board. red light indicates a connection established and the blue led to show incoming data. I think a simple circuit will reduce the risk of connection errors.

As I have stated all the MCU requires special programming tools to enable us to burn the code into its memory. I usually use pickit3 or icd3. you can also make your own programmer if you have time, but are advised to buy at any electronics store like mouser or rscomponent. USB programmer for as low as USD20 is 10 times better than the DIY programmer. Do not misunderstand. Because this is only based on my experience. Try to repair the connection of the DIY programmer that does not work for days is not worth it.

PID algorithm inside kubing controller

What is PID? Old day technology use On Off switching to control the system. The on-off controller is the easiest possible way of control. Many technical systems use it, not limited to controlling a motor.  Refrigerator, heater, water pump usually use this system. But more complicated system its not going to work as we aspect by using this technique. The idea behind feedback control is very simple. We have a target speed, specified by the user or the computer program, and we have the current actual speed, measured by the sensor (hall, encoder, pot, etc). Measurements and actions according to the measurements can be taken very frequently(t).

The easiest way of control is not always the end of the story. A more sophisticated of controller and industry standard is the PID controller. It base on proportional, an integral, and a derivative control part. The controller parts are introduced in the following sections individually and in combined operation.

Proportional is the simplest term. The error is multiplied by the proportional gain,The amount of correction applied to the system is directly proportional
to the error.

'kP term....

              P1 = Kp * DIFF

P math in C code (embedded)

1    e_fungsi = v_target - v_drive; // error function //
2    z_motor = Kp*e_fungsi ; //motor output

Integral term is calculate the "historic" error in the system in fixed period of time. How long the motor need to move from point A to B? How to set the timer overflow in microcontroller is not as easy as in P and D term. If we set the timer overflow too fast from what they need to compensate the error and the system will not going to stable. The integral gain must be thoroughly tested before implementation to any PID systems. Its not as simple as I term =  gain * sum.

output = (kp * error_value) + (ki * integral) + (kd * derivative); 

The idea for the I controller is to reduce the steady-state error of the P controller. With an additional
integral term, this steady-state error can be reduced to zero.

I math in C code (embedded)
3 e_fungsi = v_target - v_drive;
4 z_motor = r_old + Kp*(e_fungsi - e_old) + Ki*(e_func+e_old)/2;

Derivative term is based on the rate at which the system is changing. Sometime it can be extremely aggressive when it is acting on the error of the system. In my case I make it adjustable to reduce the aggressiveness of this term. Similar to the I controller, the D controller (derivative controller) is rarely used by itself, but mostly in combination with the P or PI controller. The idea for adding a derivative term is to speed up the P controller’s response to a change
of input

 

'kD term......
              errdelta = DIFF - errprev
              d1 = kd * errdelta

              drive = d1 + p1

15 sept 2011 

Understanding DOF in simulation system (long story short)

In three dimensions, the six DOFs of a rigid body are sometimes described using these names:

1. Moving up and down (heaving) = The yawing along the vertical Z-axis;
2. Moving left and right (swaying);
3. Moving forward and backward (surging) = Rolling along the longitudinal X-axis;
4. Tilting forward and backward (pitching) = Sway along the lateral Y-axis.;
5. Turning left and right (yawing);
6. Tilting side to side (rolling).

Sept 9th 2011

 

Figure 1-3

The Green board on Figure 1-3 is pololu motor driver. It has the VNH2SP30-E chip full bridge motor driver intended for a wide range of automotive applications. The device incorporates a dual monolithic High-Side drivers and two Low-Side switches. The High-Side driver switch is designed using STMicroelectronic’s well known and proven proprietary VIPower™ M0 technology that allows to efficiently integrate on the same die a true Power MOSFET with an intelligent signal/ protection circuitry. This package, specifically designed for the harsh automotive environment offers improved thermal performance thanks to exposed die pads. Moreover, its fully symmetrical mechanical design allows superior manufacturability at board level. The input signals INA and INB can directly interface to the microcontroller to select the motor direction and the brake condition.

Sept 7th 2011 

Finally Kubing 2DOF with USB CDC (virtual com) done. Using a PIC18F2550. Instruction shown below are for Windows Vista. Just Follow a yellow guide for setup.

 

 

Kubing 2dof USB Setup finish. Sometime X-sim can't detect virtual comm so you need to manually add "\com1"  or "\comx" in the listbox above. 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kubing 2dof V1.3b (June 9th 2011) The new and improve version come with status Rx led and much faster motor respond. Its should work well without limit switch.

*Gear indicator with F1 style rpm indicator for rfactor MMG..code and schematic Uploaded. Click here

 

 

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Inverted Pendulum Project

Inverted pendulum on buggy 

The derivative term is crucial in order to bring the inherently unstable system into stability. In any PID control the derivative terms acts as an anticipator. By checking the current error against the previous error, the controller
can tell if the error term is getting bigger or smaller. If the error term is getting larger, the derivative term
adds to the output of the controller much like that of the proportional and integral terms, but to a lesser effect. If
the error term is getting smaller, this term will subtract from the output of the control in anticipation of an overshoot
condition. Without the derivative term the system will always be unstable because there is no way to compensate for the overshoot condition.
**********************************************************************************

KUBING 2DOF V1.1 (March 31th 2011)

After a month of testing and tuning on my inverted pendulum buggy I have found that by adding suppression caps to the POTs will drastically reduce the noise problem. This update applicable to all pots in my schematic. But only VR1 and VR2 shown.



Paging Dr. Deadpool....

Though it may seem like I'm a one-topic pony, this is actually a nice segway into my next post.

Remember when I discussed my love for the Dr. McNinja web comics?

Well it seems that my love for ninja-themed web action is getting eloped with my love of Marvel mercenary comics.

As a normal person would say, Chris Hastings of Dr. McNinja is going to write a story for Marvel's Deadpool!

It has to do with hammers. Get it? Hammer time. Yeah.

Personally, I can't wait. I'm ecstatic. Giddy. Hastings is an amazing writer, and perfectly captures the inexplainable mindset of these comics. The deranged humor, the impossible-yet-plausible plotline for stories like these, and the clever-yet-imaginative violence. Hastings is a professional at writing all three.

I don't care if you don't like comics, I don't care if you don't like me, but please. I beg of you. Give these a try. Spend the measly four dollars and buy the first comic when it comes out. Make the industry proud. Even if the market is swamped with Deadpool stories. (Didn't they recently cancel one? This seems counter productive.)

In case you can't tell, I happen to be a big Deadpool fan.

Did I mention that I once dressed up as Deadpool for Halloween?

One of my major obsessions...

Webcomics.

I'm fanatical about them. The last time I checked, I have almost 100 different sites bookmarked. Granted, they all don't update daily. Though I still shuffle through a good couple dozen each day, reading them.

Sometimes it feels like an addiction. Sadly there's no rehab for this.

There is a long list of why I love this medium. They're free, hilarious, and independent. Mostly. 

From time to time I will talk about some of my favorites; most you may have heard of, most you may not have. 

This week is brought to you by: Dr. McNinja.

The series is written and drawn by Christopher Hastings, and colored by Anthony Clark. When I say series, I mean a damn good ongoing one.

I was drawn in during my high school days, and still read it through college.

Is it confusing? Yes. I love that.

Is it ridiculous? Yes. I love that even more.

Amazingly they leave no plot holes, and introduce some of the most ridiculous characters and media commentary I've ever seen.

If you had to start reading somewhere, try the newest story arch: Found here.

Everything is pretty much explained as it goes along.

Just learn to accept that a giant gorilla with a pet cat (with an eye-patch) is driving the car.

Just roll with it.

Did I mention that I once dressed as the good Doctor for Halloween?

What luck, to find a gorilla in high school.

This was perhaps one of the most important choices of my video game career.

Not just in regards to my weird obsession with Pokémon as a child, but through my entire video game history. Probably because it was my first major decision in my first major game.

Bulbasaur, Squirtle or Charmander?

The Pokémon I picked decided the entirety of how I played the game, though I didn't know it at the time.

It decided how I would play the first  few hours of the game; grinding to fight Brock or breezing through him. It decided the makeup of my team; I would never need another fire, water or grass type if I wanted decent coverage. 

Since I had a brother who also played these games, my decision how I would play in contrast to him. We didn't want the same starter, so we had to come to some sort of agreement; when you're 10 that boils down to yelling and biting. 

This was so monumental because Pokémon was my first videogame that I played seriously. "How do you want to spend the next umpteenth hours in this game? We won't tell you anything about these little guys. Pick wisely." Part of the nostalgic magic of these games come from that thrill of your first serious, honest choice as a gamer. Never again will you get that first experience.

So who do you choose?

Squirtle.

Squirtle forever.

(Also, if you find the original source of this art please tell me. I would like to accredit the artist.)

Nostalgia is super effective.

I'm all about nostalgia. The old games I played when I was a kid, the old shows I used to watch. Most of it still entices me to this day. Honestly, it's used more of an escape from my responsibilities than anything.

That's why I found this video pretty interesting. A friend sent it to me, and it speaks true.

Sometimes even your favorite hobbies can't block out the challenging things you find.

Also Pokémon is funny. All I use it for is procrastination.

An origin story.

Well, I finally did it. I made my own blog.
Let's see how long I can keep this gravy train sailing.
To the three of you who will read this, welcome. I hope to keep you somewhat amused.
I will talk a lot about "geek" culture. Though that is hard to define.
Stay tuned. Soon I will post interesting whatevers.